by Robert Wilkinson
Today is the birthday of the immortal artist, poet, and author Kahlil Gibran (January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931). Best known for The Prophet, published in 1923, it has sold tens of millions of copies. He died fairly young and is revered to this day.
He was an immigrant from Lebanon. His mother brought him and his siblings to Boston’s South End, at the time the second largest Syrian-Lebanese community in America. His life was a tragedy of siblings dying young of TB and his mom of cancer. He wrote “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” He was very outspoken, attacking hypocrisy and corruption. His books were burned in Beirut, and he even received death threats.
He also wrote a collection called The Madman. We also have this excellent article worth your time titled Happy Birthday, Kahlil Gibran: The Beloved Poet and Philosopher on the Self and the Liberating Madness of Casting Our Masks Aside.
To learn more about this remarkable poet, here’s a good biography of the man considered the third greatest poet of all time behind Shakespeare and Lao Tsu. Enjoy!
It's also the death day of the legendary muckraking journalist Ida Tarbell (November 5, 1857 – January 6, 1944). She was a pioneer in the field of investigative journalism, and completely fearless in taking on the powerful and corrupt. Most famous for exposing Standard Oil and the corrupt monopolistic business practices of Rockefeller. It would be equivalent to someone exposing Goldman Sachs or Elon Musk or the Koch brothers' business practices and corruption on the front page of today's news. Anyway, a big salute to a lady who exposed corruption and founded investigative journalism!
© Copyright 2025 Robert Wilkinson
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